The Etna has erupted at night and has plumes of volcanic ash and lava in the air and illuminates the night sky.

The Sicilian volcano started erupting at 3 am local time after an increase in seismic activity in the last week.

Incredible images were captured when molten lava flowed past Europe's most active volcano, which is 700,000 years old and 24 miles wide.

Europe's most active volcano, Mount Etna, erupted last night, lava and ash were fired into the sky and the night sky was lit

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Incredible images captured the moment when molten lava flowed past a crater on the side of Europe & # 39; s most active volcano

A huge column of smoke was also visible over the Italian volcano, which is located in the city of Catania, between Messina and Catania.

A huge gas column was also visible over the Italian volcano, which is located in the city of Catania, between Messina and Catania. The eruption had no impact on the nearby Catania airport and the flights continued.

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Every year it produces enough lava to fill a 108-storey skyscraper and spray tons of molten rock over the island of Sicily.

Boris Behncke, from the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, posted a series of stunning photographs of lava from nearby cities.

Mount Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe, two and a half times the second largest, Mount Vesuvius.

Every year it produces enough lava to fill 108-story skyscrapers and spray tons of molten rock over the island of Sicily.

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At 3,330 meters (10,926 feet), Mount Etna is the highest volcano in Europe and is two and a half times the second largest, Mount Vesuvius

What is Etna, how big is it and how old is it?

Etna, at 3,330 meters (10,926 feet), is the highest volcano on mainland Europe.

The volcano is one of the most active in the world and the most active in Europe.

The 700,000-year-old volcano is a huge 24 miles wide and is almost constantly active.

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It produces around 7 million tonnes of CO2, water and sulfur dioxide annually.

In 2011 it spit out nearly 70 million tons of lava.

The last time Etna posed a serious threat to the villages on its slopes was in 1992, when the lava flows headed for Zafferana, a city of 7,000 people.

In a spectacular operation, Italian and American soldiers used controlled explosions to divert the current.